


My Mistress And I

by AlmaArachnidFriendEmpress



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Adventures In Fantasy Feudal Era, Alternate Timeline, Darker Hero Squad, Demon Gore And Violence, Demon/Human Romances, F/F, Feudal Fantasy Japan Is Gritty As Hell, Fighting Naraku, Gay Romances, Gen, Lady Squad!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:13:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29587743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmaArachnidFriendEmpress/pseuds/AlmaArachnidFriendEmpress
Summary: Kagome chooses to heed Kaede's warning and doesn't free Inuyasha, but ends up subjugating another demonic being instead - the Mistress Centipede! - forcing an even more unlikely pair on an adventure across fantasy feudal Japan! A rough, deadly adventure!
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. A Worse Choice

"Nay, child! Once the arrow is removed, then Inuyasha will be free to destroy us all!"

"Don't be stupid, you old hag!" the half demon yelled. "At least with me you've got a chance! Whereas that thing's gonna eat you." The half demon gazed at the human girl. "And what about you? Are you ready to die yet?"

Janin Joro listened to the half-demon and the human, as the former attempted to cajole the latter into removing the sacred arrow of the priestess Kikyo.

She had already devoured the Shikon Jewel, and already power overflowed in her restored body - but why take the chance? If this half-demon got free, he would be a far more formidable threat than the non-threat of all these humans...and the middling threat of this spiritual priestess human as well (Kagome, she had called herself?).

Janin squeezed her lengthy form tighter around the tree, and she twisted around toward the pair; she seized onto the human by her shoulders and yanked her free before she could react, turning and tossing her away lazily a dozen feet. She squeezed the half-demon alone now, focusing all her strength on him. But with him still being sealed, she couldn't do much damage - it acted as a protective shield as much as a confinement barrier for him.

Well then, she would just leave him as he was!

She had the jewel, didn't she?

And what could any of these humans do to her now?

Only Kagome the priestess would be any sort of threat...but the jewel negated even that now.

Janin unfurled from the tree and easily darted past the humans, twisting between and around the trees, her torso low to the ground.

"We cannot let it escape with the jewel!" the old woman shouted. "After her!"

Janin continued on, until she emerged out of the woods to a deep chasm. A bridge, a rushing river below.

She surged across the bridge, laughing high to herself with glee.

After crossing, she would cut it, and all these weak, useless humans wouldn't be able to get near her! She'd be home free.

Home free, to return to her den - to her daughters. And with the jewel's strength, no one could harm her. Not a single other demon out there would be able to challenge her! None would dare enter her lair! She could clear out the entire area of the woods, make it a free and safe place for her daughters, to live in and hunt in as they pleased. To-

Dozens of purple lights flew up from behind Janin, converging on her - forming a ring around her neck. Whatever power this was, she thought, it was nothing that could threaten the holder of the jewel! And yet...

The ring formed into beads, a necklace which materialized.

Janin stared down at it, halting on the bridge. She reached up, touching it, puzzled. She made to pull it off and throw it away - but it flared brilliantly with light and energy, and it _refused to move_. She twisted and tugged, but it just wouldn't- get- off of her!

What kind of power was this?!

How could it not be removed by the holder of the Shikon Jewel?! How could it not be removed by _her_ , a demon of the highest caliber, a demon who-

"Quickly, child: the word of subjugation!"

"Huh?"

Janin twisted around, staring at the humans who had caught up with her.

"It matters not - your word has power to hold her spirit!" the old woman yelled out to the priestess girl, Kagome.

 _Hold_ MY _spirit?_ Janin shrieked her mirth, shaking her head and slinking back toward them, her arms outstretched. She bared her fangs at Kagome, claws ready to tear her in half! As if a human's spiritual power could restrain _her_ , a full demon! That Inuyasha half-demon spawn may have been bound to the tree by a priestess, but Janin was above that! She couldn't be, not like him! She was a FULL demon, after all! It was just so laughable!

The black-haired human girl stared at her in terror, falling backwards onto her rear. Then, she threw up her hands and shrieked out, "HEEL! BAD DEMON...CENTIPEDE LADY!"

Janin froze, gasping as the necklace burst with light, and then suddenly an overwhelming force slammed her flat onto her face on the bridge! Her whole torso, most of her lower body as well, her many legs sprawling, hanging over the sides! "AGH! W-what is-?!"

"HEEL! HEEL, HEEL, HEEL, HEEL!" The human cried out in mantra, getting to her feet and clenching a fist at Janin.

Janin was repeatedly slammed into the bridge, face-first, crying out with each powerful blow, that mighty force dragging her down! And then at last a powerful blow broke the bridge, and she plummeted! She twisted desperately, slamming against the side of the chasm, sharp rocks jutting and stabbing into her, drawing blood. She bounced, flying back the other way and hitting the waters at last; her lengthy centipede body was splayed across the river, the middle submerged, her torso and her tail end above surface against the rocks.

She growled and groaned, shaking her head and pushing herself up, fighting the rapid currents pulling on her midsection now.

What had this necklace done to her?! She felt so much weaker, suddenly, she felt...

Janin froze as she stared at her own limbs. Beautiful, pale skin again, no claws...just long, pretty nails again...

She'd reverted? All the power of the Shikon Jewel was gone?!

But where had it gone, she'd eaten it, she-

Janin stared down at herself, twisting this way and that.

It wasn't in her anymore?! She didn't have it?! Where had it gone, how-

The rocks, the blood...

Janin touched fingers to her deep wounds in her ribs. A hole, a gouge, several feet deep...

She furiously, desperately gazed down the river's rapid waters! She couldn't see the Jewel, but she could _sense it_ getting more distant from her by the second!

It must have come out of her through the wound, jarred free of her body and escaped it!

_No! I must have it back, I must find it again, I won't let another demon have it!_

Janin flung herself into the water wholesale, and began to surge down it, going with the current, frantic.

"HEEL!" A voice yelled from above.

The necklace glowed, and she was slammed down into the water, submerged.

It glowed again, and again, and she was thrown to the bottom of the river, pinned to the rocky bottom - she was being battered, torn up, lacerated!

Several more times she was flung against the river bottom, as all the while the current whipped at her and contorted her lengthy body.

She was battered and bruised, bleeding more profusely.

By the time she dragged herself out, the power had stopped. She was heaving, gasping, clenching her fists and slamming them into the ground so hard it shattered.

She let out a mighty scream of rage and frustration.

At this rate she'd never find that jewel again! With that human impeding her with that power, with this strange necklace! Immovable with the Jewel, now it had to be flat out impossible!

Janin...didn't have the strength for it. Not by a long shot.

She startled as she heard rustling and footsteps far ahead. She gazed down the river, and saw the girl herself, Kagome, along with those other human villagers. Kagome stooped down, and the Shikon Jewel was in her hands.

Janin rushed at her, screaming! "GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE ME THAT JEWEL YOU HUMAN WRETCH, OR I'LL-"

"HEEL, HEEL, HEEL, HEEL!"

Janin hit the dirt, her forehead striking a boulder and shattering it. Repeatedly, turning it into smaller pieces. She clutched her head, dazed, tongue lolling. This human girl was going to give her the worst migraine she could ever imagine...

Her hand came away with blood, shocking her.

She felt so weak without the Jewel! She had to get it back, she had to - it was right there! Surely she could just-

"HEEL!"

"AGHHHHH! STOP IT, STOP IT, HUMAN, RIGHT NOW!" she shrieked, enraged, frustrated as she pushed herself up again.

"Why, so you can come over here and rip me apart? I don't think so!" Kagome yelled back, holding the Shikon Jewel to her chest protectively. "And you're not getting _this_ either, so don't even bother trying! Unless you like getting hurt!"

"You think _you_ have power over _me_?!"

"I think I do, yup. All I have to do is say 'heel,' and- whoops, sorry!"

Janin growled, hissing and righting herself _again_. How?! How could one human, even a spiritual one, have this much power over her? How could she do this to her?! And earlier, she had wielded an incredible power to destroy her limbs...Janin couldn't let _that_ happen again - without the Jewel, the damage wouldn't heal again. It would be permanent. She was already missing _ONE_ arm, still. The one lost in the Bone Eater's Well. This human girl...admittedly, yes, she was formidable in her own way, and now she had a power over Janin.

It was a situation she never could have conceived of, being under sway of a human! Being heavily _damaged_ by a human, several times over. Just one single human girl! But that strength...Janin had to be wary of it. But where did that leave her, then? How could she get the Jewel if she would be stopped in her tracks the instant she tried? If her _limbs_ could be disintegrated by a wave of that girl's hand?!

Perhaps...a new strategy was needed?

Janin let a breath go, tossing her head and letting her long dark hair spill down one side. She smiled widely at the girl, Kagome. This admittedly formidable human, a single human of such great power to do permanent, immense damage to a demon like herself. Yes, she could respect that, in its own way. For being so unique, one in a million. Out of all the countless humans she'd killed and eaten...that there was a single one who could blow away her limbs and constrain her with jewelry...

"I suppose that Jewel is safe in your hands, human - and I _suppose_ that as long as this village has you in it, it will also be safe from me," Janin called to the human. "I won't bother chasing after it anymore; I know what you can do to me, you above all others. And with the Jewel, you can annihilate me with a thought. A wish, can't you? I'll give you that - the one human I can't stand against, the one I can't devour."

"So, are you going to leave me alone now?" Kagome shouted back, a fierce look on her face. "'Cause that's right - I'll blow you away if you come anywhere near these p-people!"

"I'll leave you alone," Janin agreed. 'But the second you wander off, that Jewel will be mine-'

"Wait, you're really just leaving?"

"I'd think you humans would be relieved at that."

"It's just..." Kagome paused. She stepped forward with a fist clenched, raised at her. "I don't know if I can trust you to just slither off into the woods like that! Don't think I don't know you'd probably just come right back for the Jewel in my sleep! I'm not dumb, you know!"

"Then, what, you'd rather I kept myself close?" Janin said, amused.

"Mmmmm...YES," Kagome cried, her jaw set.

"Excuse ye?!" the old woman exclaimed. "Are ye _mad_?"

Janin stared. She laughed. "You really must be, girl!"

"No, I'm not!" Kagome protested firmly. "It's just - as long as I've got the Jewel, and you've got that necklace on your neck - I feel pretty safe about things. But if you wandered off, you'd be out of sight. Who knows what you'd do? But if I can keep you with me, I can keep you on a tight leash! And, you know, you did wreck their entire village...the least you could do is help rebuild it!" she added fiercely.

"What?" Janin said, shocked.

"You heard me! You destroyed the village; it's only fair you fix what you broke!" Kagome yelled. "Have a taste of community service, why don't you?!"

"Of what?" Janin said, baffled.

"Oh, right, I guess nobody here would..." Kagome trailed off, flushed. She laughed awkwardly, waving a hand. "Forget it, okay? Just - do what I say, or I'll heel you again-"

"AGH!"

"I really _am_ sorry about that one!" Kagome called. "Sort of..."

"I'd rather take my chances out there than willingly become some human's slave - or _pet_ ," Janin retorted icily. "Goodbye, human."

She turned around and sped away - only for the necklace to light up, and for her to be slammed to the ground once more.

"Hey, don't think you can just get out of it so easily! I said what I said, and you're going to listen to me!" Kagome shouted at her, stomping toward her with fists at her sides. "You're going to help fix the houses you broke, you're going to make things right with these people, and then you're going to- HEEL! HEEL, HEEL, HEEL!"

Janin was halted in her attempt to meet the girl half-way in a furious lunge, a murderous strike. It failed, and she was pinned, helpless at the human's feet! She gazed up at her with hate, and a little fear now.

Kagome raised her fist and thrust it into Janin's face. "Hmph! Now listen here, you! If you don't want me to do what I did to your arms again, except to your _face_ this time, you'd better get a real attitude adjustment, real fast! I can say- THAT WORD- all day long! Can you live with having your face in the dirt all day long? Huh, can you?!"

Janin's eyes went wide. She reared back, retreating several feet. "You...you- witch- you...human..." She contemplated making another lunge for the girl, for the Jewel, but she would only end up with her face in the dirt again, wouldn't she? And she was tiring, she was wounded. Down an arm, too. If she couldn't even _leave_ this human's side without suffering more harm...

"Fine," she spoke lowly, sighing to herself. "Do with me what you will, human. I clearly don't have a choice in the matter."

Kagome eyed her critically. She retreated a step, lowering her fist. "Heel!"

"ARGH, I JUST SAID I'D-"

"Oh no, I actually meant, like, follow me - just come on!"

Kagome whipped around sharply, starting off toward the villagers. She glanced over a shoulder. "I said COME ON! Don't make me say it again, because I will!"

Janin followed after her slowly, cautiously - maintaining what she felt was a non-threatening distance. One that wouldn't provoke the human into hurting her again. Why was this one human so...frightening?

She would have to find a way to get rid of the necklace - but until then...the smartest idea was to go along with it. She could stay close to the Jewel, find the right time to take it again. And kill the human, too. Maybe if she killed her, the necklace would lose its power?

* * *

Janin had never been so humiliated in her life!

Forced to do manual labor for _humans_ \- humans she had slaughtered, humans she COULD HAVE SLAUGHTERED!

She raised her body high and manipulated multiple wooden beams simultaneously with her arms, nailing them into place with singular, powerful swings of the hammer.

She payed no mind to the two dozen humans surrounding her below, with all manner of weapons aimed at her long body.

Janin was injured, and they'd still made her work! They'd been making her work out here for hours! The sun was rising by now!

"Hey!" Kagome's voice came, sudden and loud.

Janin turned and looked down at the girl, tensed. "What? I'm not working to your satisfaction?"

"What?" Kagome blinked. "No - it looks great! You're a real...hand... _hands_ at this? Anyways, I just thought you deserved a break and some good food," she went on hurriedly, raising a basket of fruits and vegetables.

Janin stared at the food. It looked delicious. But why would the human just give it to her? Was this a trick, or a test? Was she going to snatch it away at the last second, and "Heel" her again? "If that's what you want," she said simply, slowly lowering herself to the ground. She faced the human, and extended a slender arm, a hand.

"Uh-uh," Kagome said, shaking her head at her. She turned and pointed. "Let's go eat in there."

Janin clenched her jaw. More humiliation? "Let's," she agreed simply.

She followed Kagome over to the wooden house, hesitating at the entrance before moving her torso inside it. She glanced around, maneuvering herself and settling in a corner. She leaned against a wall and crossed her lower and middle arms (she hated not having her top left arm anymore).

Kagome dropped the basket in front of her, then sat down nearby.

The old woman was already in the building, sitting and tending to a small fire.

Janin ate the food, turning away from the pair of humans as they began to talk.

Talks of reincarnation, talks about the Jewel - about Kagome being its newest protector. About the wishes people wanted to make on it, desires of petty and selfish, by demons and humans alike.

"Why do you want this Jewel so badly anyways?" Kagome's voice. Sudden, quiet. Curious. "What power could it even give you that you don't already have?"

"The power to get away from _you_ ," Janin responded, spitting her spite at the human.

"I'm serious - why?"

"For my family."

"Your family?" Kagome stared.

"I have two daughters, and an entire clan to look after," Janin replied. "I'm a high royal member - I lead it."

"Or at least, ye did," the old woman spoke casually. "The time between your death and latest resurrection by the Jewel was substantial this time, Mistress Centipede - fifty years. Who knows what may have happened in that time?"

Janin hissed at her, then sagged at Kagome's fierce look. "I need that Jewel to protect my daughters, and see that my clan...if it still remains...will _remain_ the strongest around."

"Perhaps a not so selfish wish, then," the old woman mused, eyeing her. "A wish to protect family is a pure one. Yet the Jewel corrupts all, twists all wishes into negativity, to backfire on its user. And, well, what is good for a demon's family is not good for the humans in the world. Your children would only be two more demons to ravage us, to hunt and devour us all."

"And is that so wrong?" Janin said.

"Of course it's wrong!" Kagome exclaimed. "How can you just be okay with that?!"

"Because that's how this world is," Janin replied simply. "If you're not the strongest, then you're vulnerable - to be killed at any moment by those stronger than you! The only way to make sure you live long and healthy, and happy, and to make sure your _children_ live the same, is by becoming the strongest there is. The most powerful demon in all the lands, to devour all others. No one can threaten you then, no one will dare approach you, no one will think to go after your daughters. You're either strong, or you're weak. And we centipede youkai are near the bottom of the rung, compared with what else is out there - _who else_ is out there..."

"But that isn't true. It's not just black and white like that. I mean, humans are pretty weak compared to you demons, right? But if enough of them all band together, they can fight you off. Take you down. It doesn't just have to be the strong destroying the weak - the strong can _help_ the weak, and the weak can help the strong too. And together, they can become something stronger than they would be alone. They watch each other's backs, they compliment each other. Strength isn't the end all, be all! You can rely on others, you can work with others to do more. Ever heard of something called teamwork?!" Kagome exclaimed, gesturing furiously at Janin.

"Demons don't work together," Janin stated, shaking her head. "And no demon would waste her time working with the weak, either. Why waste time and energy lifting up the weak, sheltering them? If they can't protect themselves, then they're not going to last very long. And that isn't the strong's problem."

"Do you think that about your kids, too?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because they're my daughters. Because I know they'll become strong. Because it's natural, it's instinct, to raise and guard them until they're ready."

"Well I think you could really get some advantages over other demons if you were open to working with other people - no matter how _weak_ they were. If they're human or not. I mean, look at me! I'm a human and I beat you. Would you just ignore my powers? Ignore me?"

"That's also different - you're unique among your own kind," Janin dismissed. "But I wouldn't just ignore your power, no," she added. "I haven't forgotten it."

In fact, Janin was acutely aware of that power. And how easily this girl could just turn it on her again, and burn away her face.

"So you'd work with me?" Kagome asked. "If I wanted to team up with you?"

"I wouldn't have a choice," Janin answered pointedly, sighing. "But, yes, with your unique skills and powers, if there was ever a situation where I needed them...I'd consider it for a time. But that would never happen; there isn't a thing a human could do for me that I couldn't do for myself."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Janin asked dully, following the girl through the woods, weaving around the trees with ease and speed.

"Back to the well!" Kagome replied firmly. "The one I came from - where I first met _you_ in there. Why _were you_ even in there anyways?"

"I assume that's where my remains were dumped after my death," Janin answered, angry at the thought. "My last death, that is. Until the Jewel resurrected me."

"So it was my fault..." Kagome murmured. "Me going near the well, finding you...I brought you back. Because the Jewel was inside my body."

"Yes," Janin said. "I'm grateful that you ended up there when you did to restore me to life."

"I bet..." Kagome muttered, shaking her head.

A new voice suddenly spoke up - a familiar voice. "Still hanging out with the bug, I see. Heh, and look, you even tried to pretty it up!"

Janin turned swiftly, hissing and baring her fangs at the half-demon bound still to the Tree of Ages. "And look at you, still the perfectly helpless prey specimen, sealed right there to that tree. The half-demon spawn who will _never_ be able to get the Jewel! After all your effort, it was for nothing! So goes the life of any half demon!"

"HEEL!" Kagome yelled.

 _Damn you_ , human! Janin hit the dirt hard, forming a crater.

"Hahaha!" the half-demon laughed at her. "Some full demon you are, becoming the _pet_ of a human girl! That necklace isn't just jewelry to make you less ugly, is it? It's a collar! I might be a half demon, but at least I'm not suck obeying a human girl!"

Janin pushed herself up and lunged at him, jaws gaping, fangs extended- and she crashed down again at a word from Kagome!

The half-demon laughed harder.

"Okay enough out of you - Inuyasha, was it?" Kagome shouted to him, stalking past Janin and getting right up to the half-demon. She put her hand on her hip, and shoved her finger in his face. "We were just passing through - you don't have to be so rude!"

"Tcht, you're even stupider than I thought, keeping that thing on a leash. It's going to eat you the second you let your guard down. You should've just freed _me_ ; you would have had a chance at a much longer life!" Inuyasha scoffed.

"That old woman Kaede told me you destroyed the village and tried to make off with the Jewel fifty years ago!" Kagome replied. "That's why you're stuck to this tree; why _Kikyo_ put you here like this! No way am I freeing _you_ \- you'd just try and take it from _me_!"

"Huh? So the old lady was the little brat?" Inuyasha laughed again, and grinned. "If she's that old, Kikyo must be pushing a hundred. How long's it been?"

"Fifty years," Kagome answered him. "Kikyo died not long after she sealed you to that tree. And apparently, I'm her reincarnation."

"Hah, good riddance. But you...guess that explains why you smell like her so damn much. So, did the old lady rope you into protecting the Jewel, just like Kikyo used to? Hope you're better at your job than she was - the second I find a way down from here, I'm coming for it. For you, Kagome - or should I call you Kikyo now?"

"Ugh, come on, Janin - we're _leaving_!" Kagome whirled away from Inuyasha, and stalked off past the Tree of Ages. "I'm through wasting my time with this guy!"

Janin resigned herself to obeying; she wished she could have just gotten a good bite out of the half-demon, but the human Kagome seemed to have something against eating people (even half demons). Leaving him to be food for other full demons was a fitting enough fate for a half spawn like him - she could be happy enough to imagine his fate by proxy.

"Just why are we returning to that well?" Janin asked, slinking along beside the human.

"Because I need to see if something still works..." Kagome uttered. "I hope it works..."

"What works?" Janin was genuinely curious. She had first met this human inside the well, after all. In some strange realm...

"I'm not sure I should-" Kagome began.

Suddenly a dozen humans came down from the trees, wielding bladed weapons.

Janin's immediate thought was that it was some human ambush - a trap, laid by the very human girl keeping her constrained - but these humans were clearly different from the villagers. These were roamers, bandits; they were weak scum, even called so by other humans!

She lashed out with her tail end, striking one in mid air and sending the man flying off to strike a tree, then she surged up and seized another in the air and bit into his neck. She gripped his head and tossed hers, tearing out so much of his neck that his skull almost fell off - it hung by the loosest collection of muscles and skin. She let the body drop, and darted for another two humans who fired off steel arrows at her. They did nothing more than scratch her a little.

"Ahhhh!" A high voice yelled. "Let go of me, let go!"

Janin turned to see a human on a horse galloping away - with Kagome over his lap! _No!_

She couldn't let anyone else have the Jewel, she couldn't let these humans make off with it! As much as she wanted to just let them go with Kagome, let them kill their own kind (which might free Janin of this damn necklace), she couldn't do that when the Jewel was at risk! If they took it, if they used it...

It wasn't as if Kagome could defend herself against them; her spiritual powers only worked on demons like Janin, not her own people - not other humans. She was weak, frail, pathetic, a helpless human girl to the core!

And that meant Janin would have to go after her - to go after the Jewel!

"H-hey, Janin, help me or I'll say- you know what!" Kagome screamed out as the horse grew more distant, her voice panicked. "If they k-kill me the necklace's hold will never be broken! It'll stay on you forever, and it'll- root you to the ground forever, just like Inuyasha to that tree by Kikyo's sacred arrow!"

 _WHAT?!_ Janin felt shock and panic rush through her form. _No, no, a human trick, it has to be...but what human would call out to a demon for help and expect it to work, even with a trick? Even if it is, I can't risk that! I won't end up like that half demon spawn! I won't be stuck helpless in the middle of some forest for eternity!_

Janin had to get the girl back, and safeguard her life, then! Not something she had ever imagined happening in her long life so far - _her_ , needing to save a _human_!

But it was what it was. She couldn't take the chance, either way. The Jewel, or the risk of being sealed away in the woods forever if that girl lost her life...

Janin smacked aside several humans, breaking their swords as they hacked at her lengthy lower body, and then she surged through the forest after the horse-riding bandit.

She hadn't gone far when great screeching noises rose up around her. She glanced up and saw a great flock of demonic birds descending on her - dozens upon dozens of them! Dancing Corpse Crows.

These birds could be a real threat to her, especially in such large numbers.

_Dammit, I need that Jewel - and I need that girl back!_

Janin twisted and batted at the demon birds as they swarmed her, beginning to claw and peck at her, actually breaking skin where the human weapons couldn't. She rose high into the air with a shriek and began to twirl herself into a demonic cyclone, throwing herself at them and shredding through them in droves. She came out of it and sped through the opening she'd made, through the trees in pursuit of Kagome again.

But the birds pursued her, too. They assailed her, descended on her, attacking her even as she moved.

She bashed them into trees, she felled trees and she used her jaws to bite and spit their corpses out, she grabbed them in her many limbs and choked the life out of them and wrung their necks!

But she took damage all over, the whole time.

_Irritating little cretins!_

Janin crashed through dozens of trees without care, until she emerged into a clearing at last.

A shrine, within which she could hear quite the ruckus. And a familiar voice: Kagome's!

Janin paused as something glinted in the sun, catching her eye.

The Shikon Jewel! It was just laying out there in the open.

The shrine's entrance was blocked by debris.

Janin hissed as she saw one of the demon birds descend on the Jewel with its claws outstretched!

_No! That Jewel is mine!_

She lunged, throwing her whole body into the path, knocking the bird out of the air as it shrieked with pain. More birds descended on her, and more flocked for the Jewel as well.

Janin reached for it swiftly - a bird slashed her across the wrist - two flew at her face, talons raking dangerously close to her eyes -

And a bird flew past in a blitz of black, and the Jewel was gone!

Janin thrashed and slammed her body against the shrine, destroying the wall. Several humans were crushed, and a large, pale one went flying back across the room - but she couldn't care less. She only cared about _one_ : the one she needed - needed not to _die_ on her.

"Janin?! You- you came to save me?" Kagome gasped, staring.

Janin darted her torso into the building, snatching the girl up in her arms and holding her to her chest, then she backed out and whipped around, and she scanned the sky wildly. "Where is it, where's the Jewel?!"

Kagome's arm raised as she squirmed, and she pointed far off toward the bright sun. "Hey, that bird has it in its mouth!"

Janin looked where she was pointing, and she squinted and finally saw it. The single bird, breaking from the rest, soaring over the trees. Of course the Jewel's spiritual protector would be able to locate it so easily!

She surged after it with all the speed she possessed!

"W-woah, hey, slow down - you can't hold me like this, you're going to drop me!" Kagome was crying out. She twisted around and her arms were wrapping around Janin's neck with a considerable strength for a human.

Janin ignored her.

Until the human spoke again.

"Oh no, it just swallowed it!"

 _My Sacred Jewel!_ Janin raged. _Some pathetic little bird has it now?!_

If that bird was allowed to hold onto it for too long, it wouldn't be so pathetic anymore, Janin knew.

Even now, with every passing moment, it would become more difficult to take down - even as insignificant as it was.

As she watched, it transformed, becoming a great deal larger, more sleek and deadly, proving her worst fears true.

She sped up, weaving between trees, gaining ground on the bird. The human girl clinging to her and screaming so annoyingly loud.

And to make the situation worse, the rest of the bird's flock was still coming after them.

Janin wrapped her arms around the human to shield her as best she could - she was _not_ letting herself become sealed forever! She resumed her chase more furiously than ever! The bird had used the Jewel's power, it was already becoming more of a danger! She chased it across a river, right back into the human village, she realized.

The humans were raising their weapons at her, shouting at her.

"Idiot humans, attack the bird!" Janin yelled out, gesturing. "Do you want your Jewel back or not?!"

Kagome pointed to the crow. "Do what she says, shoot it - use your arrows!"

The villagers hesitated, then turned to fire up at the bird. None of their shots even came close.

"Useless!" Janin exclaimed, hissing at them. She blew over their heads, the wind knocking them over, uncaring. Not for them; but she did make a very conscious choice not to barrel through any of their stupid wooden houses again. She was _not_ in any sort of mood to be "heel'd" again, if this bird actually got away with the Jewel.

Well, back at the village now, Janin pried Kagome loose and tossed her away (the human could be safe with her own kind, or at least as close as these helpless weaklings could get to safe). She was only being weighed down by the girl anyway - she could move better on her own.

She launched herself high, sailing through the air for the bird.

"MINE!" she yelled, swiping her hands for the bird as she bore down on it.

The bird squawked and twisted between her hands with unexpected speed, glowing with a red energy.

Janin twisted her torso and clamped her jaws - the bird squawked as one of its feet was bitten clean off - and she came crashing down again in the middle of the village. She had been so close!

She pushed herself up and prepared to go after it again, try again, but-

"H-hey - HEEL!"

"ARGH!" Janin twisted around, enraged. "You're letting it get away with the Jewel you're supposed to protect!"

"I know, but we're not going to catch it like this!" Kagome shouted back, brushing herself off. "And you didn't have to throw me so hard, you know!"

"Do not give up just yet, child!" The old woman said urgently, striding up to them with a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Here, take these - go after that demon."

"Me? But I've never used a bow and arrow in my life!" Kagome protested, but she took them all the same.

"As reincarnation of my sister Kikyo, I have faith in ye. Kikyo was a master archer," Kaede answered firmly.

"But how am I supposed to..." Kagome began. She paused, and then she retrieved the bitten off bird's foot - the foot that wriggled with life, rolling across the dirt as if pulled by an invisible power. She took a string and tied the foot to an arrow.

Kaede nodded at her, then gazed at Janin entirely without fear. "Take the girl, retrieve the Jewel - you'll not succeed alone. Either of ye."

Janin swept Kagome up in her arms again and blew through the village without hesitation. She slung the girl onto her back with an absent swing and a toss of her arms, ignoring all of her screams and protests.

She understood: just as the Jewel's powers had resurrected her, given her back her arms after Kagome had blown them off, so too would the Jewel's power seek to restore the bird's limb to the whole. If that arrow was fired, it was almost guaranteed to strike home, drawn by the Jewel's power itself!

It was clever, for a human, she admitted.

Janin thought it was remarkably _less_ clever when the arrow, drawn by the foot and shrouded in spiritual power, blasted away the bird's flesh and struck the Shikon Jewel directly, piercing it.

There was an infinite moment of silence, and shock, and then the Jewel exploded in brilliant pink light.

Streaks of energy flew off in all directions, soaring across the sky. Dozens, hundreds?! Who could tell!

Until it all faded, and calmed.

Janin stared at that space in the sky where the Jewel once had been - where it now _wasn't._

"Where...where is the Jewel?" she whispered. She reached back over herself and seized Kagome, slamming her down to the grass and pinning her there, shoving her face in hers in an instant, fangs bared. " _Where is the Jewel, what did you do to it?!_ "

"AHHH! H-HEEL!"

Janin's face hit the ground next to Kagome, her arms splayed, releasing her. Kagome kicked at her and crawled away, then cried out, "HEEL!" a second time.

Then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth!

"All right, stop it, stop it already, human!" Janin cried from the ground. "We need to find out what's happened to the Jewel - or are you just the world's worst protector?!"

Kagome stood over her, hands on hips. "Hmph! I hope you're calmed down now - because you're right. We've gotta find out what's going on here. All those lights couldn't have been a good thing..."

Janin lifted herself up cautiously, awaiting another command, another punishment. She stared up at the sky again, sighing.

What had happened to the Jewel? What had this girl _done to it?_

This Kagome really was unique among her kind, wasn't she?

And that made her a unique threat among threats.

But right now...

Janin learned soon enough that the Shikon Jewel had in fact been shattered, the fragments scattered across the land. And the worst of it all was that while she may have been able to sense the whole, powerful Jewel orb...she could _not_ sense any of these fragments. At least, not so easily. Not when they were all so far away from her. Not when they were all so... _small._

Even so, she rallied herself, and decided she had to track down every last shard, and recomplete the Jewel - _her Jewel._

Luckily enough, Kagome also shared that goal. And with her spiritual power, it was likely she would be able to sense the shards far more effectively than Janin could ever.

So, for right now...

Janin conceded that Kagome was correct: a time _had_ come where she needed the unique skill of a specific human.

The same human whose side she was unable to even _leave._

It was both infuriating and reassuring.

Janin would have to make sure to keep Kagome safe on their travels, or risk losing her spiritual powers. Lose her Jewel Shard detection abilities. Abilities that were all _hers_ to benefit from, to take advantage of!

Yes, this unique, special human was _hers_ , hers and no one else's!

This human may think Janin _her pet_ , but the truth was the opposite, in Janin's mind: _Kagome_ was _Janin's_ human pet!

Janin would use her like humans used canines - and then she would finally kill her, and _eat her_ for all this humiliation and pain.


	2. Yura of the Demon Hair Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Inuyasha so much, I'm so excited to write this! :) I'm trying to actually kinda write each chapter in the style and tone of the anime, with each one being a self contained episode and all (besides two parters, like this one), but still one overarching plot and threads. :) :) Anyways, imagine Inuyasha OP 1 and ED 1 play at the start and end of each chapter! And also play appropriate Inuyasha music when you read! I do when writing this. :D

_I've been in the Feudal Era for three days! Three whole days, stuck with this demon centipede who wants nothing more than to eat me - and everyone else around me too! The only thing keeping her from doing that is a beaded necklace and my fast word. But what if one time I'm just not fast enough?_

_What if she gets someone? What if she kills someone?_

_Sure, she's going along with it now to get the Jewel Shards - the shards only I can sense, because I'm the reincarnation of Kikyo - but what happens when we do get them all? She'll try to take the full Jewel again, try to use it again. She'll probably kill me then, without even thinking about it! And then go on to kill everyone else..._

_Oh, I wish I wasn't here, I wish I wasn't babysitting a giant monster of a demon! I wish I was back home in my era - with my family! Mom, dad, Sota...my friends...my school! Everyone must be worried sick about me. But can I even get back home again? And if I do..._

_If I do go home, I'll just be leaving Janin free to slaughter everyone while I'm gone - even if I did come back again later. No doubt about it, I'd come back to find the whole village in ruins!_

_How can I be thinking about going home when people's lives depend on me like that? On my word being able to keep Janin in check?_

_I know I can't trust her to behave herself while I'm away..._

_So maybe I...maybe I could..._

_No! That's even more crazy. I can't seriously be considering it. How would that even work, anyway?_

_And that would just put a whole bunch of_ other people _in danger! People closer to me, people I care about._

 _But if it's possible, and it's the only way to not let her out of my sight...because I just_ can't _let her out of my sight..._

"Ugh!"

Kagome resurfaced from the waters, dressing herself in the new clothes offered to her by Kaede. She gave a wary look at Janin Joro, centipede demoness. But Kaede didn't seem to be afraid at all (or, if she was, well she wasn't showing it!).

Kagome eyed Kaede, then hesitantly asked a question, low as she could. "H-hey, if Joro over there already looks half normal...can she look- fully normal? I mean, I thought I'd heard somewhere about demons taking human forms," she went on quickly. _In mythology books and fairy tales! But I can't tell her that!_

"Most powerful demons can change their form," Kaede replied, thoughtful. "do ye seek to command your demon to alter its shape? Do not make the mistake of thinking the demon would be any less a danger if it had two legs and a smaller form; its demonic energy and strength would be exactly the same as now. Demons usually only take human forms to fool us - to play with us before they eat us."

"Thanks. That's exactly what I wanted to know - I'll still be careful about her." Kagome assured.

"If this be the case, then ye will be needing these." Kaede offered a spare miko, one of the larger sizes that Kagome had tried on - it hadn't fit at all, had hung so loose on her she almost tripped! "Give these to the demon."

"Thank you. I'm sure she'll just _love them,_ " Kagome said, sarcastic. She draped the spare miko ver her arm, brushed her hair behind her shoulders, squared her shoulders, and started off toward the trees. "Joro - _heel_ \- and come on," she called out to the demon.

A high screech as the demon's face cratered the earth, then she followed with incoherent hissing and spitting.

Kagome smiled to herself, patting the top of her miko, where she had hidden the pouch with the Jewel Shard in it. If Janin couldn't sense the shards, then she couldn't find it - she wouldn't have any idea it was right under her nose! Safe with Kagome. Probably the safest person it could ever be with, Kagome admitted.

"Are you finally going to start searching for more?" Janin spoke, a real eagerness to her voice that had Kagome worried. Eager? No, it was more like _greed._

"Not just yet," Kagome told her sternly. "I want to go somewhere first - and you're coming with me."

"Of course I am," Janin hissed. "I don't have a choice."

"That's right, you don't - and don't you forget it! 'Cause where we're going..." Kagome sighed, wondering if she really was out of her mind.

She walked through the forest until she came to the old well. She gripped the side, leaning over to peer into its dark depths. _This is it, this is where I came out of, alright. The well that brought me here. But can it really send me back? And am I really...thinking about...I don't really have a choice, either, Joro; people are counting on me to handle you._

"Listen," Kagome spoke firmly, spinning around and putting hands on hips as she faced the demoness. "I'm going to go through the well, and you're going to come along with me. I'm going back home - the place where we first met."

Janin stared, then contemplated the well. "That in-between place...where my flesh and life returned to me...and you - when I sensed the Jewel and grabbed you, the view wasn't a forest..." Kagome felt uneasy, seeing that cunning demon mind work. But she let it. "Is this well a portal between locations? What powerful humans could have made a thing like that?"

"It's a way to go between two places, yes," Kagome answered cautiously. "But I have no idea who made it, or why it does what it does. It just does. And I have to see if it can let me go back to my home now. I can't leave you behind, though, or you'd kill everyone and go after the Jewels on your own!"

"Oh, I'd probably try," Janin agreed, unhesitating - with even a small little smile on her lips. "But having you search for them for me is going to make it so much _easier._ Very well; let's go to your home, human. Jump into the well."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the demon. "Not so fast! As I was _saying,_ before we do: I want you to use your demon powers to make yourself look like a human!"

"And why would I ever want to do _that?_ " Janin questioned, looking downright offended.

"Because you're not coming with me unless you do, that's why! And who knows? Maybe I'll just- _hah._ " Kagome thrust out her palm, setting her jaw and stepping forward.

Janin reared back, her face seizing.

A frozen moment.

"I could still blast you, you know," Kagome said, trying to sound as strong as she could. If Janin was all about strength and power, about the weak and the strong, then clearly that was the only thing she was going to respect! The only thing that would _get through to the demoness._ Even if Kagome didn't at all agree with her sick world view. "So you better just do it! Or is that something you can't even do, huh? Are you not a powerful enough demon to turn human?" she added ruthlessly - trying to be, anyway.

Janin tossed her head of hair, lowering herself to the ground with a hiss. "If you want that, then I'll see what I can do - I've never taken a human form before, but _of course_ I can do it. It will be easy for me, human."

Kagome lowered her hand, satisfied with herself - and relieved. _I can't believe I pulled that off!_

She watched Janin's eyes close, watched a red energy pulse under her skin - and then the demon's very _skin_ was changing! Her long body was shrinking, shortening, her skin color took on a tinge of human life, and a much more natural _coloration_ to it at all; her many arms were sucked up into her body, and her long lower half became two simple human legs. Her facial features, her bones shifted around, becoming more human.

Until what stood before Kagome was just a tall, beautiful human woman with flowing dark hair and deep red eyes. A woman who was also totally naked, save for the lavender bead necklace around her neck.

" _Eek!_ Put these on, would you?!" Kagome threw the miko at her and turned part-way away - but not _all the way._ She still had Kaede's warning in her mind; just because Janin looked human now didn't mean she was any less powerful, or deadly. "And you might want to make your eyes a different color, too - try blue or something."

When Kagome saw the demon was dressed, she turned fully to face her. Janin's eyes were a dark brown, almost pure black. "That's way better." _Don't forget what she is, even if she looks human._ "Now come on."

Kagome drew breath, turning back to the well. She was going to do this, she was going to go home. It had to work! She could do this - she could go home, and she could keep Janin in check. It would work!

Kagome climbed up over the side, and she plunged into the well.

She fell into darkness, but she didn't hit any sort of bottom; instead particles shimmered around her, and she fell into a familiar void. A place of blue energy and beautiful stars in infinite...

A feeling rose up Kagome's spine, and she glanced up to see Janin floating down after her; the demon had actually listened.

"This is the place..." Janin spoke, gazing all around with curiosity undisguised. "What a strange place."

"Y-yeah, but isn't it kind of-" Kagome began.

The blue energy pulsed around them, and then Kagome was falling flat on her butt in the bottom of the well again.

She gazed up at a familiar sight: the shrine!

"...but we've already been in here a dozen times."

"But grandpa, I keep telling you, this is where she fell!"

"But are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"But I wasn't!"

"G-grandpa?!" Kagome called. "Sota!"

Kagome ignored Janin entirely, overwhelmed with emotion as she climbed up out of the well. She even ran right past her grandpa and brother, out into the open air. The world familiar to her - her era, her time!

Buildings, Tokyo, modern cars and noises and houses!

Kagome stood, drinking it all in, her throat growing tight. _It's not a dream. I'm really back; I've come home! Back to my own time!_

"You were missing for three whole days, the least you could have done was call!"

"And why are you wearing those weird old clothes?"

A great wooshing noise, and Kagome turned to see Janin striding out of the shrine.

 _She just jumped clear up out of the well! She really_ isn't _any less powerful like this._

"And who is this?!" Kagome's grandpa exclaimed.

"My name is Janin Joro, royal head of the demon clan Setzu. Not that it matters to a human like you - old, frail, weak and defenseless. So much more than the rest of your kind."

"DEMON?!"

"Grandpa, it's okay," Kagome said quickly. "It's a really long, really crazy story, and yes, she's a demon, but she's not going to hurt anyone! Trust me - if she does, I'll handle that!"

"Kagome, get away from that fiend!" Grandpa shouted, pulling Sota far away from Janin.

"This is the usual reaction I get; I'm glad to see it still happens, even in this form," Janin chuckled, giving a wide smile that was purely predatory. "Maybe being like this won't be so bad after all!"

"Could you guys just all calm down, please?" Kagome exclaimed, frustrated. "That's it - _h_ _eel!_ "

Janin hit the ground face-first, the necklace lighting up.

"K-Kagome, what did you just-" Grandpa stammered, staring.

"I told you I can handle her," Kagome replied, waving an airy hand and smirking to herself. "Now can we all just go inside and sit down? I can explain everything to you - and to mom."

"W-well, alright then..." Grandpa uttered, still gazing at Janin with fear and caution.

Kagome stalked up to Janin, then froze. She tilted her head, confused. "Hey, you have a really long hair loose there..." She gazed along the hair's length, seeing it went all the way back inside the shrine.

Janin stood, staring at her. Then she looked at her shoulder. "There's no hair, human."

"Yes there is. Right - here." Kagome seized it up. "See?"

"I can't see anything," Janin replied, shaking her head. "Humans are so strange...this is what I get for spending so much time in close contact with one...I don't know how your minds work..." she muttered on.

"There's really a hair here, it's-"

The hair strand constricted, and a stinging feeling shot through Kagome's hand.

"Kagome, your hand!" Grandpa exclaimed.

Blood was dripping now.

"Can you feel this for me? Break it for me?" Kagome urged Janin, reaching for the demon's hand and pulling it up. "It's attached to _you_ , so it's probably some demon thing I don't know about!"

Janin's hand closed around the hair. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. Her lips twisted. She clenched her fist, brought up her other hand, and Kagome watched the strand be torn in two. The entire length leading back to the shrine went slack.

"What was that?" Kagome asked, nursing her hand with her miko.

"Another demon - no doubt after the Jewel," Janin spoke. "I recognize the technique, even if I can't see it myself; it's Yura the Hair Demon."

"Yura the Hair Demon?" Kagome said, alarmed. "Someone else is after the Jewel? Do they even know we shattered it?"

"She likely doesn't," Janin answered. "But with her strand cut, it will take her some time yet to discover the secret of the well." She paused. "We should be safe from her for now."

"Safe from her...are you saying you care about me?" Kagome asked, staring.

Janin stared right back. She looked puzzled. "Why would I care about you, besides-"

"Besides that I'm useful to you, yeah, I know," Kagome said, blowing a breath. "Never mind! Why did you even say something like that, then?"

"I only meant...that she's powerful," Janin explained, looking _troubled._

"More powerful than you?"

"Many demons are more powerful than me."

"And this one definitely is?"

Janin hissed at her. "From all that I've heard about her - yes."

"Well...you said we're safe here for now? So let's just- let's go inside. We can worry about her...later."

Janin looked surprised for a moment. Then she nodded.

* * *

"With those clothes, a real demon sitting with us - and all this talk of _other_ demons - why, the well must have taken you to some place like the Feudal-"

"To another world, that's right," Kagome interrupted her mom fiercely. _If Janin ever found out that the future is a world without demons, she'd probably go completely insane! Who knows what she'd do here?_

Mom and grandpa shared looks - looked at Janin. They seemed to understand.

_Thank god._

"And you say this demon is bound to you now? Under your command?" Grandpa uttered.

"W-well, it wasn't _me_ \- I just blew off her arms a few times with these spirit powers - but yes, she is," Kagome replied. "I'm the only one who can make sure she doesn't just go off and start eating people. Lucky me, huh?" she sighed. "Now I'm stuck having to drag her around with me everywhere!"

"Maybe not!" Grandpa proclaimed, standing. "I can create some demonic seals; we'll just lock it away in the shrine!"

"With the well there, she would just go back to _her world,_ " Kagome shook her head.

"We'll seal up the well, then, too!" Grandpa said firmly. "I won't let my granddaughter be burdened by the weight of a chained monster the rest of her life!"

"Even with these powers of mine, I don't think even _I_ could seal her away like that..." Kagome sighed.

"Have you tried?" her mom asked.

"Well, no...I don't even know how Kikyo did it to Inuyasha..."

"Who and who?" her grandpa questioned.

"Remember? The half demon sealed to the tree," Kagome said quickly. "The one in the _other world._ Obviously he's not on _our tree._ "

"Of course, of course," her grandpa replied swiftly, nodding. He glanced at Janin, who was sitting very crudely, sprawled with a leg drawn up, an arm rested over it. "If I'd been there, I would have taken my chances with the half demon," he went on. "At least that one would have also been half _human_ as well. Whereas this demon here...there is no humanity in it. Only evil! Death and destruction."

"Death and destruction are just the tools I use to ensure the survival of myself - and my clan," Janin replied, amusement crossing her features. "Evil? Hardly. If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else, at any rate. You humans are the weakest beings in the world, that even the lowest demons can kill off in droves."

"So, what, it's nothing personal?" Kagome burst out, glaring.

"It really isn't," Janin answered simply. "I have no hatred for humans, no contempt or disgust - though I know many other demons do. It's just that you're weak - and I'm strong. There's nothing else to it. It's a fact of life."

"You're unbelievable!" Kagome yelled. "How can you seriously think that?"

"Because it's the truth of how the world is - besides the exceptions, like you," Janin stated casually.

"That's just a stupid-" Kagome began to shout.

"Kagome dear, why don't we just eat?" her mom said quickly. "Or wouldn't you like to go take a bath? I can't imagine being back in that- in that _world_ , that they had any good concept of hygiene?"

"Oh, you've got no idea, mom!" Kagome exclaimed, jumping up from the mat. "I'm gonna go have that bath - don't wait up for me! Or _her._ Come on, Joro!"

* * *

"What sort of world is this? I can't sense even a trace of demonic energy besides my own, and not even any spiritual energy. And these buildings...I've never seen you humans build anything like them before. And those carriages, you said they were...moving so fast, looking so strange?"

"Just _cars_ , not 'carriages'; I _told you_ it was a totally different world," Kagome answered, sitting on her bed and brushing her hair.

"It is," Janin agreed, not removing her gaze from the open window. Curious, and also...apprehensive. "It's so strange," she reiterated, in a murmur.

"I'm starting to think that _you_ think that _everything_ human is strange! You sure say it a lot!"

"I'd say that it makes sense," Janin said. "Your kind needs some way to make up for not having any kind of powers or abilities. Your minds work in strange ways, letting you do...the strangest things. _Build_ the strangest things. Not that any of this would help you against me," she added, laughing and shaking her head.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that..." Kagome muttered.

"How can you stand this?"

"What?" Kagome was totally caught off guard by the random topic change. "Stand _what?_ "

Janin gestured out the window. "All these lights. It's night."

"Annnd...?" Kagome responded, still confused.

"You give up any advantages when it comes to stealth, and you couldn't hide anywhere when you're shining light on everything. Everywhere."

"There are still plenty of dark places around Tokyo, trust me," Kagome replied. "Mom always says never to go down dark alleys alone - or dark _streets._ "

"Hm. I couldn't sleep safely with all of this out there."

"Look, if you're really so worried about the lights, just close the curtains!" Kagome said, exasperated. "And get the light switch, too; that'll make it nice and dark in here, at least. I need to get to sleep anyways. I'm so...so tired," she confessed absently, sighing as she fell back on her bed.

"Light switch?"

"Oh for the love of-" Kagome sat up. "See that, right by the door? Just move it from up to down."

Janin moved, and the room went dark.

"Remember not to kill me - or anybody else - or you'll _really_ wish you hadn't now!" Kagome uttered in the darkness. "You'll get stuck in a world you don't even know a thing about." Kagome wondered, really, how long that spur of the moment lie of hers would even hold. But even if it didn't, she was sure the fact that Janin needed her to find Jewel Shards would still be enough to keep her from killing Kagome. That, and the word of power itself.

Hopefully, anyway...

* * *

Janin Joro waited for the human girl to sleep, then she silently crossed the room and jumped out the window, falling to the stone below. The courtyard of this shrine. Kagome's family shrine. It made sense for her to be so spiritually powerful now, coming from a line of priestesses and maidens in a strange world beyond a well.

Did souls pass between worlds, then, if the soul of Kikyo had reincarnated into this Kagome, even across the well?

If the Shikon Jewel had been in her body, even across the well?

It made sense, too, that something so all-powerful would have the power to cross without the need for some magical well.

This foreign world unnerved Janin greatly. Everything was an unknown.

She hated unknowns.

Who knew what monsters and powers lurked here? Who knew how many more humans were like Kagome, in this world?

Maybe supremely spiritual priestesses weren't as rare here as they were in Janin's world!

And then there was the knowledge that Yura was after the Jewel - the shards, that was. Janin was as afraid of this fact as she was frustrated that Kagome wanted to take some vacation in this world right now; there were Jewel Shards to be found - every moment not spent on that was leaving them to be found by others! Demon, human, even half demons. All of them hoarding the power for themselves, growing stronger...

Janin wasn't growing any stronger by staying in this place.

She needed Jewel Shards, herself! She needed them more than anyone else! That strength, that power, had to be _hers!_

She strode over to the shrine, intent on waiting right there for Kagome to decide to cross back over again - surely the human couldn't find a reason to "heel" her for _that!_ So long as she restrained herself from killing or devouring anyone, the human would be fine with her.

Probably - Kagome was a highly temperamental human.

Before Janin had reached the shrine, there was a great crash from within, and the doors burst open with splintering wood.

She tensed, staring into the building, but there was nothing there. She couldn't smell, see, or even _hear_ anything beyond this strange rustling noise...

But she sensed some sort of mass of demonic energy. Powerful energy, somewhere in front of her. Yura's hair, then? She'd made her move, her attack for the Jewel.

Not that it was particularly helpful in-

Something sharp and thin sliced across Janin's ribs, legs, arms, and neck all at once. Dozens of sharper, thinner _somethings_ (they could only be hair strands!) assailed her body, tearing her human clothing and injuring her body, drawing blood from tiny cuts. Luckily, her own demonic power fortified her human body as well as her natural demonic one.

Thick tendrils, invisible to Janin, wrapped around her wrists and ankles, binding her and lifting her up. Then, one wrapped around her neck, beginning to squeeze with force, and slice with sharp power.

Janin's body burst with transformation, her long, armored lower body emerging, several hundred feet of armored demonic chitin and many thin legs. Her usual number of arms returned, bursting out of human ribs; her fangs grew in, her face changed, and her soft porous human flesh became her normal pale smoothness.

She seized invisible masses of hair and brought her head down, biting and tearing viciously!

The hair was torn, and one of her wrists was freed. She focused on the other, and then she was hitting the ground again.

A door slid open nearby, and light spilled out.

"HEY! What do you think you're-" Kagome began, before falling silent. Her eyes went wide, and she stared all over the courtyard. "Hair...everywhere..."

 _She can see even Yura's hair? What_ is _this human? How much power does she really have to her?_ Questions for later. All that mattered now was-

"Wait, there!" Kagome pointed into empty space. "A hair - the strand is glowing! Break that one!"

Janin turned, seeing nothing. She brought her arms up as several tendrils of invisible hair slashed across her face, trying to strike at her eyes. "Could you be any more specific, wretch?!"

Kagome hesitated, then she sprang into motion, racing across the courtyard. She ducked and dove, then came up and reached out to empty air. Her hands moved as if grasping something. She turned to Janin. "Here!"

Janin surged toward her, and she found the strand; she wasted no time in bowing her head and tearing at it with her teeth, tearing at it with her many limbs until it tore in two. That demonic energy mass faded, disappearing almost instantly; she turned toward the shrine.

Kagome did as well. "Thank goodness! See what happens when you use a little teamwork?"

"Your abilities are very useful, yes," Janin admitted. _And they're mine alone to use._

"Kagome what happened out here?" The human's mother had arrived. So had the others.

"What's happened to my shrine?!" The old man exclaimed. "Was it you, demon?!" he shouted, shaking a fist at Janin.

Kagome startled, then waved her arms frantically at Janin. "Hey, go back to human, would you?! You can't look like this here, if someone sees you they'll-"

"Be quiet, I'm changing already," Janin hissed, her body pulsing with red energy as it began to shift and shrink once more.

"Phew..." Kagome sighed, touching her forehead. She stared at Janin even still.

"What is it now?" Janin asked.

"Nothing, just your miko...it's a little torn up there. But it could work - a weird fashion statement." Kagome shook her head, then looked at her family. "I'm really sorry, but we can't stay here. Every second we do, we're putting you in danger! That was another strong demon that just attacked us."

"Yura could have killed all of you without even coming through the well," Janin addressed the humans factually.

Kagome gave her a strange look, then looked away. "Right, she could have. So we need to go back. I have to go back...I love you. Mom, grandpa, Sota. But until this whole Jewel thing is sorted out...I can't be bringing it over here to you guys. I mean, I'll come back home when I can, but..."

Kagome's mother hugged her daughter. "We understand. You're so brave, Kagome. I love you so much."

"Remember the story of the Shikon Jewel," Kagome's grandfather told his granddaughter. "Once you've put it back together..."

Kagome nodded, another strange look crossing her face. "I- I will."

Kagome's mother strode up to Janin, looking her in the eye. "Could I ask you to try to look after Kagome for me?"

"I'd planned to," Janin said, puzzled. "I need her ability to locate Jewel Shards."

"I meant protect her for her sake."

"Why would I waste time and energy protecting her if she isn't of any use to me?"

Kagome's mother stared at her, biting her lip.

"Forget it, mom," Kagome said, shooting a glare at Janin. "She just doesn't care. I guess a demon _can't_ care about anyone but herself."

"I care for my clan, and my children," Janin retorted. "That I don't care about some human doesn't mean I'm-"

"Heel - come on!" Kagome said furiously, stalking toward the shrine's ruined entrance. "I'm not in the best mood to hear from you right now, okay?"

Janin followed the human through the well without comment, baring her teeth at her back, and wishing she could just sink her fangs into her neck.

* * *

"Oh my god, what happened here?!"

Janin walked with Kagome into the human village (Kagome had remarked to her, after exiting the well in the woods, that "you might actually just want to stay looking this way, even back here; it'd save you a lot of trouble since you're going to be around humans most of the time now!").

There were bodies strewn about, humans and animals alike. Blood flowing, heads decapitated, limbs severed. Slash wounds and piercing holes.

"This village isn't too far from the well," Janin mused. "If Yura tracked me to your world, she might have realized you were staying in this village recently - and that you might return to it."

"I think you're right." Kagome whispered. Her face went blank as she continued through the village. "All of this...it's because of me again."

"Actually, it's because of the Jewel," Janin corrected her. "A demon like Yura wouldn't have any interest in a human like you."

"I'd hee... _you-know-what_ you if we weren't in this situation right now," Kagome breathed. She stopped, her eyes straying to a fallen group of men. She walked to them and stooped over, retrieving a bow and a quiver of arrows. She turned with blazing eyes to face Janin. "Let's go get this demon - show her she picked the wrong people to hurt!"

"Yes, let's." Janin had no care for the humans, of course - but she had to eliminate the threat to her Jewel detector...and to herself; in attacking Janin, Yura had made a _grave_ mistake.


End file.
